Sauced: Filipino Spaghetti Sauce

Six years ago in Manila, I found myself at a child's birthday party grabbing one of every food being offered: fried chicken, spaghetti, and a San Miguel. At the end of the buffet table next to a full-sized image of Big Bird and the required karaoke machine, I had my first taste of Filipino spaghetti.

The meat sauce was laden with sugar and hot dogs—definitely not the spaghetti of my youth. It was no doubt kid's food but I couldn't help myself from really enjoying it, and went back for seconds to go with the remainder of my beer. Since then, whenever Filipino spaghetti appears at a family function, I semi-secretly gorge on it, having an odd attraction to the sweetness.

One of the major sweeteners in this tomato sauce is banana ketchup, which I had a surplus of thanks to last week's Sauced column. As I finished an oversized plate of the Filipino spaghetti, wieners and all, my wife couldn't believe I liked it so much—to her it's more of a nostalgic thing. But what can I say, it may be designed for the kids, but there's no shame in an adult loving this meaty, sweet tomato sauce too.

About the author:Joshua Bousel brings you new, tasty condiment each Wednesday and a recipe for weekend grilling every Friday. He also writes about grilling and barbecue on his blog The Meatwave whenever he can be pulled away from his grill.

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About the Author

Sharing his love between three beautiful grills and two handsome smokers (oh, and lets not forget a wife and a couple cats), Josh has a passion for grilling and barbecue that seems to grow bigger everyday.

Starting with a bi-weekly backyard barbecue series called The Meatwave in 2004, this pastime quickly became an obsession that turned into a full fledged recipe blog a few years later. He then brought those grillmaster skills to Serious Eats in 2008, delivering the best in grilling recipes every week. Taking the plunge from backyard to pro, he started up a competition team in the spring of 2012 and quickly added the "award-winning" label to his barbecue.

At this point, Josh has slow smoked and eaten so much pork, he's legally recognized as being part swine.